A judge at the High Court in London had originally ruled in July that the look of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab computers was not too similar to designs registered in connection with the iPad. He said at the time that Samsung’s devices were not as "cool" because they lacked Apple’s "extreme simplicity".
Apple still needs to run ads saying Samsung had not infringed its rights. The US firm had previously been ordered to place a notice to that effect – with a link to the original judgement – on its website and place other adverts in the Daily Mail, Financial Times, T3 Magazine and other publications to "correct the damaging impression" that Samsung was a copycat.
The appeal judges decided not to overturn the decision on the basis that a related Apple design-rights battle in the German courts risked causing confusion in consumers’ minds.
"The acknowledgment must come from the horse’s mouth," they said. "Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely."
However, they added that the move need not "clutter" Apple’s homepage as it would only have to add a link entitled "Samsung/Apple judgement" for a one-month period. A spokeswoman for Samsung said it welcomed the latest ruling.
"We continue to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners and that the origins of Apple’s registered design features can be found in numerous examples of prior art.
"Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited."